


But Who Could Stay

by lineeelin



Category: Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bisexual Addison Montgomery, Bisexual Meredith Grey, Canon Lesbian Relationship, F/F, Gay, Growing Up, Meredith Grey - Freeform, wlw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-17 12:28:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29225484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lineeelin/pseuds/lineeelin
Summary: College AU of Meredith and Addison.Who could ever leave me, darling? But who could stay?- Taylor Swift "The Archer"Growing up in the Montgomery house was hard, Addison's parents were both cold and mean.Growing up in the Grey house was hard, Meredith's mom ignored her.What happens when they meet?Sure that's all you get to know because I'm tired night.
Relationships: Meredith Grey/Addison Montgomery
Comments: 10
Kudos: 18





	1. 01 - In Which We Grow Up

She never really understood the hype of these places. Why parents pay for those insanely overpriced sugar clouds that turn their kids into monsters. How one can stand on their feet for hours with the hope to satisfy some odd excitement. And not even to mention the absurd amount of potential danger they put themselves in to hopefully receive that adrenaline rush. Her theory was that any person who willingly attended those places either lack brain cells or have some contact with aliens. Oh boy and if you enjoy it? You had to be some long lost relative to the devil himself. Originally it was sibling and not relative but she decided to switch it up around the age of eight. Lucifer could only have so many siblings.

All of her therapists growing up had their own opinion and theory surrounding her strong connection to carnivals and anything that ended with 'park'. She was thirteen when she realized that her father only took her to therapy so he could screw the woman after. She never did anything about it. She kept going in once every Friday. It was better than the alternative. 

Speaking of her old man, he wasn't always that bad. He was actually a decent father for most of her early years. She wants those years back. Christmas growing up was interesting to say. The Forbes-Montgomery house was perfect in the eye of everyone with the exception of those who happened to be cursed with said name. 

Her parents slaughtered the Christmas gift tradition when she turned seven. Apparently, she was at an age where she could make her own money. She knew that her family was different from a very young age. But then there was this friendly woman Susan who always got something small for her and Archer. It wasn't much but it was something. 

Every Christmas started with the sound of footsteps approaching her door. Her brother kept that tradition until the year he moved out. He would sneak into her room at the crack of dawn with a few poorly wrapped handmade presents. It was their tradition. Giving the other something small but personal. In 2005 she gave her brother a book. It wasn't the traditional book you would find on the massive bookshelf in their living room. It was a book for plans and idéas on when and how they could escape their parents. The two were out of luck that year. They knew it the second they saw their mother by the door. Bizzy hadn't even bothered to go through the book. She quickly decided that there were far more important things to do than finding out what had her kids cracking jokes at five am.

Bizzy was a mean woman, an ungrateful friend, and an even worse mother. Addison never analyzed her parents' behavior. She knew that they were different. That they lack just about every sort of human decency and that they had trapped their kids into their unhealthy lifestyle. 

But everything had been fine. Addison never wore a threaded shirt or jeans that were too big. Her mother made sure of that. She never had to spare money, her daddy always paid her to be silent once she had caught him in the act with her babysitter.

The older she got the more she understood and the more she wanted to forget. But then 5 o'clock came around and she was mixing her father's drinks again. That's why she loved school. It was the perfect way to get important things done while also escaping reality. But once again she grew older and teenage girls started picking on her. Addison knew that she had to do something about it because if she didn't her mother would and that could only have ended badly. So she took after her mother. Addison became the school's mean girl. She took no crap, wore clothing worth the minimum of $100 and pretended to not care about her grades. 

Then high school rolled around and she had a competition. Suddenly there were these other teens with loads of money and reputation. She made herself a part of that group through money and attitude. Together they picked on and made fun of the other students. 

She kept her cover and this made up persona to all but one, Callie. Calliope Torres was the only one who knew the real Addison. Or well so she thought. Addison still kept her family secrets and childhood to herself. But Callie was the one who knew her the best. To everyone else, Addison was a spoiled brat who got everything she asked for. She told herself that it was fine and that she never truly meant the things she said or the things she did to others. 

There was this one girl Addison never touched or spoke to. She could spot the resemblance miles away. Acting out in the hope of catching a glimpse of someone's attention. She never got around to ask anyone who the small girl with pink hair was before graduation. 

Speaking of graduation. Addison Adrianne Forbes Montgomery graduated second in her year shocking everyone including Callie and herself. At least she found out the name of the mysterious girl with pink hair. She had spent a good minute trying to figure out why that name sounded so familiar. It bothered her for a week before she forgot about it.

Summer went by quicker than she wanted it to. Before she knew it she was registering for classes and moving into her dorm. The whole med school thing was something she had wanted to do since she scraped her leg when she was five. There had just always been something captivating about it. Her brother always thought that it would fade with age and that she would go into business. He had been the only one smiling at the dinner table when she announced that she would attend college at Yale. He had been so proud of her. 

And now she is at said place. Well, technically Addison is simply trying to enjoy her overpriced salad and there happens to be an amusement park behind her. The smell of burning sugar in the air. "At least overpriced salad tops overpriced sugar."


	2. In Which We Seek Attention

Her mother never understood nor supported her dreams. Nothing she did was good enough, her mother always had something to complain about and there was always something she could've done better. 

Her mother had been the first to tell her how much of a disappointment she was. She had learned two things that day. One, to never hug her mother after a 48-hour shift at the hospital. Two, to never expect anything but unsatisfaction from her mother. She never learned the second one.

Her father left her when she was five. He never fought for them. He packed his stuff and left Meredith with her mother. She knew back then that she would never be enough. She knew that she would never be loved. She kept trying to prove herself wrong.

At five years old she got to use her knowledge of what to do if someone was unconscious. Call for help. To pick up a phone and dial 911. She had done exactly what Auntie Marie had taught her. But somehow saving her mother's life had been an unsatisfaction to her mother. That was when she had realized that her mother would never treat her the same way other mothers treated their kids. Loved their kids. 

Earlier that day Meredith had hoped that her mother tolerated her enough that she would let her go on the carousel. Meredith's hopes had been higher than the universe liked and the day left the small child traumatized. A five-year-old grew up that day. Meredith went from five to fifteen during a day. They moved to Boston by the end of the week.

She knew what pneumothorax meant by seven and got an Anatomy Jane doll for Christmas that year. She had trouble remembering the medical terms for the organs and ended up giving them fake names. She enjoyed Christmas growing up. It was the one day her mother showed affection and love. They would share a meal, watch a movie and Meredith would even receive a gift. The presents were mostly medical things. She got a suture kit at nine and a textbook for medical students at twelve. The tradition stopped the same year. 

She never learned how to handle anything in the kitchen. She set the counter on fire at thirteen when she attempted to make lasagna. How that happened was never solved because her mother didn't pay much attention to it. Meredith had been expecting some sort of punishment. She feared that her phone would be taken, she didn't want anyone at school to know what it was like at home. She didn't even get grounded that day. She never got grounded actually. Ellis didn't care enough to even look at her. Meredith fell asleep from crying that night and wished for her mother to care at least a little.

She got home from school one day to a note with an address on it. She immediately called her mother to ask what it meant. That was how she found out that they had moved to Connecticut. Meredith had to call her principal and put in a transfer to whatever decent school close to the address. In the middle of the call, the principal told Meredith that she would be missed. That was the first time Meredith felt appreciated. And in the desperation to attract some of her mother's attention she decided to ask if she could skip a grade. She skipped a whole grade and her mother never noticed. 

So she dyed her hair hot pink. That seemed to have worked for about five seconds. Ellis had walked into the kitchen with her iPad in hand, watching some surgical conference when she noticed it. It was almost like she hadn't seen her daughter in years. Noticed her in years. Truth was that she had seen her daughter just not noticed her. They stood there for five seconds before Meredith had separated her lips to say something. Ellis went back to her screen and Meredith was left with hope. At least she had gotten some sort of attention.

High school wasn't fun after that. She noticed the stares, the talking behind her back and she noticed her. Something had been so familiar with her. She knew her name, how could she not? She was the most popular girl at school. She was Addison Montgomery. Meredith saw her facade and the pain hiding behind it. But what could she have done? She wasn't important to anyone, she had no one and the girl had everything. Which only drove Meredith more desperate.

So she slept with her mother's intern. Nothing. She slept with a resident. She got somewhat of a disappointed sigh from it. So she slept with an attending which somehow had consequences. At least for the attending because he was fired the next day and Ellis spent less time at home that week. Being tired of being invisible to her mother Meredith decided to do something she knew would get her mother's attention. 

It was a Thursday afternoon when Ellis found out. She had walked through the door and been welcomed by her daughter. Her daughter who had been leaning against the kitchen table, arms crossed and a smile on her face. Ellis showed more emotion towards her child that night than she had the previous ten years combined. It was the night Meredith told her mother that she was going into medicine. Ellis had her piece of opinions which she had not been afraid to reveal to her daughter. 

Meredith graduated High school at the top of her year with Addison Montgomery close behind which surprised everyone. Meredith couldn't figure out if it was because she was second or if it was because she hadn't been first. The confused look on Addison's face pointed more towards the second. That's when Meredith decided to never expect anything from anyone. Everyone saw her but no one paid any attention. 

But she did it, Meredith Grey started college a year earlier than the rest but no one ever noticed. Not even her mother. She decided to spend her last day free of classes going out for ice cream. Meredith wasn't even legally an adult yet, she just turned seventeen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I have a lot going on right now so don't expect me to update. Like I probably will but don't *expect* it. Sounds good? Thanks! Love y'all


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